Illumicrate Unboxing May 2017

So this post is the unboxing of the May 2017 Illumicrate box (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Illumicrate is a quarterly subscription box. Within each box you receive a newly released book along with various bookish items. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

GeekyClean Unboxing - May 2017

So today I am going to be unboxing the May 2017 GeekyClean crate. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Geeky Clean crate is a monthly box containing 5 products pertaining to a theme. The crate will always contain 1 x soap, 1 x bath product, 1 x candle and 2 x mystery items which could be bath or body products or related fandom items.

The theme this month was By the Angel (Shadowhunters). (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #30 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Details:

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Author: JK Rowling

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-0747532699

Synopsis:

Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house, which he thinks is normal for someone like him who's parents have been killed in a 'car crash'. He is bullied by them and his fat, spoilt cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup (like his hair growing back overnight!) to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose! He is literally rescued by a world where nothing is as it seems and magic lessons are the order of the day. Read and find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parents mysterious death, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most amazing secret of all time, the fabled Philosopher's Stone! All this and muggles too. Now, what are they?

Review:

Fairyloot Unboxing - May 2017

This is the unboxing of the May 2017 FairyLoot box. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

FairyLoot is a monthly book subscription box mainly focusing on fantasy YA and YA crossovers. Each month you receive a new release book, mostly hardback and 4-6 bookish items which fit in with the theme.

The theme this month was Myths and Legends. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #29 - The Bone Season

Details:

Title: The Bone Season

Author: Samantha Shannon

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-1408836422

Synopsis:

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

Review:

Book Box Club May 2017 Unboxing

In this post I am going to be unboxing the May 2017 Book Box Club box. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Book Box Club is a monthly book subscription box. Each month you receive a specially selected YA book release and 2-4 hand picked goodies which fit in with the theme. Book Box Club also hosts a members only online book club where subscribers get a chance to chat to each other as well as the author about the book.

The theme this month was Wizards at War. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #28 - The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb

Details:

Title: The Mermaid's Daughter

Author: Ann Claycomb

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

ISBN 13: 978-0062560681

Synopsis:

Kathleen has always been dramatic. She suffers from the bizarre malady of experiencing stabbing pain in her feet. On her sixteenth birthday, she woke screaming from the sensation that her tongue had been cut out. No doctor can find a medical explanation for her pain, and even the most powerful drugs have proven useless. Only the touch of seawater can ease her pain, and just temporarily at that.

Now Kathleen is a twenty-five-year-old opera student in Boston and shows immense promise as a soprano. Her girlfriend Harry, a mezzo in the same program, worries endlessly about Kathleen's phantom pain and obsession with the sea. Kathleen's mother and grandmother both committed suicide as young women, and Harry worries they suffered from the same symptoms. When Kathleen suffers yet another dangerous breakdown, Harry convinces Kathleen to visit her hometown in Ireland to learn more about her family history.

In Ireland, they discover that the mystery—and the tragedy—of Kathleen’s family history is far older and stranger than they could have imagined.  Kathleen’s fate seems sealed, and the only way out is a terrible choice between a mermaid’s two sirens—the sea, and her lover. But both choices mean death… 

Review: